3.5 stars. Another great short story I read for my modern literature class. A brief tale of how alcoholism can have a ripple effect on life. A story of how one's actions can have dire consequences--even after you've sobered up.

A favorite quote:
"The present was the thing—work to do and someone to love. But not to love too much, for he knew the injury that a father can do to a daughter or a mother to a son by attaching them too closely: afterward, out in the world, the child would seek in the marriage partner the same blind tenderness and, failing probably to find it, turn against love and life."

He thought rather angrily that this was just money--he had given so many people money.

One of the Jay Gatsby jet set attempts redemption after the Crash. Paris has changed, so has American entitlement. Fitzgerald explores human capacity. He gives us a fresco tinted by both malignant memory and an oracle of sobriety. Neither could have been much comfort.

Overtly racist but an interesting criticism on privilege and classism.

There's a moral in this story. It was too far out there for me to worry about figuring it out.

This is a story that explores themes of wealth and excess. It portrays the moral consequences of living in a society dominated by opulence. Fitzgerald is obviously critiquing the United States specifically, as he names his ultra-rich family the Washingtons.

I love stories which border on surreal. Stories like One Hundred Years of Solitude, where almost everything appears realistic save for a handful of incredible occurrences. Aside from the discovery of a massive diamond mine, this story is entirely realistic.

One detail I particularly liked was the fact that Mr. Washington was unable to mine or sell very much of his diamond. It points to an absurd feature of luxury products like diamonds: their value is generated only from their scarcity. This is exactly what fictional societal critiques are supposed to do: present extreme examples within the realm of possibility that highlight the absurdities of our institutions.

My only complaint about this wonderful story is that I felt somehow disappointed by the ending. I can't quite explain why, so I feel hesitant to include this in my review, but I expected something more out of it. Perhaps I was just so floored by the previous chapters that anything would have felt like a return to earth. And they don't call it "falling action" for nothing, right? Let me be clear, this was not a bad ending. But the final chapter was the one point in the story where I did not have my proverbial socks knocked off.

What a fun little short story! Our main character goes home with a classmate over school break. Only the friend's family is insanely wealthy and own a diamond the size of a mountain. The family compound has been kept secret even from the US government. Things quickly turn ominous and we get a little fable about being overly beholden to wealth. A quick, fantastical read with lots of deeper themes to explore.

PS - In looking back through Goodreads after writing this review, I see actually read this one back in 2009!